'Strategy Session' on Goals Draws Diverse Array of Players, Reactions

DES MOINES--More than 700 people from 43 states and the District of
Columbia gathered here last week for what was described as a "strategy
session" to help achieve the six national education goals.

But the National Education Goals Forum attracted widely varying
levels of state involvement, with some participants expressing
uncertainty about the purpose of the two-day event.

The nation's governors had been invited to attend the forum and to
send teams of "delegates" from their states to share ideas and
experiences on working toward the goals.

Six governors actually attended the forum. And while some state
chief executives sent more than 25 people--including legislators, chief
state school officers, educators, and leading business
executives--others sent few or none.

Moreover, while many attendees found the exchange of information
helpful, some wondered what they were supposed to accomplish here, or
what they were expected to do once they got back home.

"The first question I got asked was, 'Why are we here?'" said Dick
Vander Woude, a government-relations consultant for the National
Education Association, which held a briefing for union members who
attended the conference.

"I think they were hoping to start some dialogue," Mr. Vander Woude
added, referring to the forum's organizers. "And if that happens in a
few places, then I guess it will be worthwhile."

There was no strategy document or plan that states were expected to
have developed by the conference's end. Individuals were asked to
complete questionnaires that sought to elicit their opinions about many
of the national school-reform initiatives under way, as well as
possible next stops. The results will be provided to each state and to
the meeting's sponsors in the next few weeks.

The forum was the brainchild of Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa.

Since last year, when President Bush and the governors adopted the
national goals during Mr. Branstad's chairmanship of the National
Governors' Association, the Republican Governor has been advocating a
meeting that would involve all of the stakeholders in education
reform.

The conference was sponsored by the state of Iowa, the U.S.
Education Department, the National Education Goals Panel, and the
Business Roundtable.

'Open Arms, Skepticism'

During the meeting, delegates and at-large participants heard status
reports on the work of the goals panel, the President's America 2000
reform initiative, the New American Schools Development Corporation,
the National Council on Education Standards and Testing, and the
Business Roundtable.

They also attended smaller workshops that highlighted national and
state initiatives to achieve the goals.

But several delegates said their most productive time was spent in
hallway conversations and in a meeting sponsored by the Council of
Chief State School Officers before the Oct. 27-28 forum began. The
chiefs' session brought together 27 states to begin work on an
interstate consortium on assessment.

"What I've gotten out of it, personally," said Chester Freed,
director of planning and assessment for the Delaware Department of
Public Instruction, "is just talking to people from many other states
and seeing how they're approaching reform-some with open arms and some
with healthy skepticism."

Although the organizers had hoped to attract 11 governors to the
meeting, only a half-dozen attended. They included most members of the
goals panel, as well as John R. McKernan Jr. of Maine, the current
chairman of the Education Commission of the States, and John Ashcroft
of Missouri, this year's chairman of the N.G.A.

"The lead governors on all the education stuff are here," Mr.
Branstad said.

President Bush, who had tentatively been scheduled to speak to the
participants by satellite, was unable to do so because of his trip to
Madrid for the Middle East peace conference.

The uneven level of commitment to the forum was reflected in the
wide variations in the size and makeup of state delegations.

Some states, such as Arkansas, sent no representatives. Others, such
as California and Delaware, sent one or two people. And some-including
Ohio, Texas, and South Carolina--sent large contingents that included
influential players in school reform.

"We had hoped that we would have some legislators here with us and,
perhaps, even the governor," said Helen Busche of the North Dakota
Education Association, "because we know what we want our agenda to be,
but we have to get the others to come along with us." North Dakota sent
only four delegates.

In contrast, Gov. Carroll A. Campboll Jr. of South Carolina, the
chairman of the goals panel, brought more than 20 people with him,
including two state lawmakers.

Mr. Campbell said he wanted participants to get information
"firsthand, not from me coming back and telling them what to do."

Ohio had an equally large turnout, including Ted Sanders, the new
state superintendent of education, who was meeting some of his state's
delegates for the first time.

Marching Together

The agenda of state delegations also varied widely.

Some came simply to hear what was happening in other states or to
get help in launching their own America 2000 initiatives. Others, such
as the Texas delegation, planned to reconvene back home.

"We tried to get a cross-section of people who were working
positively to get some things going," said Sonia Hernandez, the
education adviser to Gov. Ann W. Richards of Texas.

"We're beginning to feel that we may be able to do something, that
we're all marching in the same direction,'' she added. "That's why we
didn't want to miss the opportunity to bring people here."

Ms. Hernandez also said she wanted to learn how other states have
gained publicity for their reform efforts. Texas is trying a number of
innovative measures, she said, "but nobody ever hears about that."

For the event's host, Governor Branstad, the forum provided an
unprecedented opportunity to push his own agenda in Iowa--and one that
he rarely missed.

Two hours on the first day of the meeting were devoted to showcasing
educational initiatives in the state. U.S. Secretary of Education Lamar
Alexander also spent several hours on Oct. 27 meeting with Iowa
representatives and learning about the New Iowa Schools Development
Corporation. ('See Education Week, Oct. 16, 1991.)

'Very Messy'

The Secretary compared the current ferment surrounding education to
the heyday of the civil-rights movement. "There's a rumbling and a
bubbling and a coming together of opinion sort of all at once,"he
said.

But he admitted that the process for achieving the national goals
and setting national standards and assessments "is all very messy."

'"My guess is that it needs to be that way for a while," he added.
"What we need to do is create a framework in which good things can
happen."

Since early this fall, the Secretary has been spearheading an
intensive public-relations campaign to get states and communities to
sign on to America 2000, the centerpiece of the Administration's
education policy. (See Education Week, Sept. 11, 1991 .)

During the meeting, Mr. Alexander said there would be 30
participating states by Thanksgiving, up from 19 at present. And he
urged delegates to think about what an America 2000 community does
"after it kicks off' its campaign.

Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado, who is co-chairman of the National
Council on Education Standards and Testing, also warned the audience
that efforts to create national standards and assessments were moving
rapidly and that those meeting here should be prepared to react in an
organized fashion.

"When academic organizations contact your state and say, 'We want
you to react to our draft on national standards,' who do they deal
with?" Mr. Romer asked. "What is the mechanism by which the 50 states
are going to communicate with each other?"

The Colorado Governor presented the audience with several scenarios
for developing standards and assessments at the national level,
including the creation of a quasi-governmental body that could
coordinate such efforts.

Mr. Romer said the standards council would probably recommend
creating such an entity in its final report to the Congress and the
goals panel next month.

But opinions among the forum participants about the desirability of
creating a "national educationstandards board" were mixed, particularly
on the issue of delineating its purpose. "Personally, I don't want to
create a board in America that tells you you're going to teach this,
this, and this," said Governor Campbell of South Carolina.

"I'm not real sure what some people have in mind for this board to
do," he added.

And Mr. Alexander said that the Administration "doesn't know yet
what the next steps are."

"I think that the best thing for us to do is just listen and form an
opinion," he said. "I think we have time to think things through."

Mixed Reactions

Meanwhile, members of the audience continued to express doubts about
whether there should even be national standards or assessments.

Within the Oklahoma delegation alone, for example, one person said,
"I think there are going to be some national standards .... There is
too much inconsistency now."

Another member stated, "I don't think we're ever, ever going to
agree on very specific standards as a nation."

And a third Oklahoman said, "I'm not sure that I'm in favor of
national standards." But, he added, "If we must have national
standards, they must be maximum standards, not minimum standards."

Participants also expressed concern about how to build grassroots
support for fundamental changes in education. An Ohio delegate said the
community forums that many states are relying on to generate excitement
about America 2000 "don't get the right people."

"Community forums are talking to the committed," she said.

And several people suggested that most Americans still are unaware
of the six national education goals or are unconcerned about them.

Finally, several participants expressed the frustration of many
educators who are dealing with severe budget cuts and fiscal
retrenchment.

"Nobody is talking about money," one delegate said. "Why has no one
talked about money for the past day and a half?. A lot of us are
concerned that it will cost more money to put in these reforms."

Vol. 11, Issue 10, Pages 1, 16

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